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Joshua McLemore Wiki – Joshua McLemore Biography

An inmate with schizophrenia died after being locked up alone, naked, dehydrated and malnourished in a filthy, padded cell for nearly three weeks as jailers watched him decay and only intervened when it was too late, a federal lawsuit filed this week alleges. Joshua McLemore, 29, died on August 10, 2021, after spending 20 days in “Cell 7 Padded” at the Jackson County Jail in Indiana, according to the complaint filed Wednesday. He died following his arrest for pulling a nurse’s hair in a medical center emergency room during an “acute mental health crisis,” according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Indiana federal court.

“Josh McLemore was not a criminal. He was mentally ill and in crisis,” attorney Hank Balson said in an emailed statement to Law & Crime. “He was out of touch with reality and needed help.” Balson said the jail did not have mental health staff and that the nurse who worked there three or four days a week barely interacted with him and ignored the obvious risks of his condition.

The lawsuit, which names Jackson County Sheriff Rick Meyer, jail supervisors, medical staff and the private jail’s health care provider, said his condition was treatable and his death it was preventable. He alleges flagrant violations of his constitutional rights. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages for pain and suffering, loss of value of his life, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. Messages seeking comment from the Law & Crime sheriff’s office were not returned.

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Joshua McLemore Age

The age of Joshua McLemore was 29 years.

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Joshua McLemore cause of death

Jessica Young, president and CEO of the jail’s health care provider, Advanced Correctional Healthcare, said in a statement to The Indy Star: “We take criticism of the care provided by our team seriously. We are prohibited from disclosing patient information due to federal HIPAA confidentiality and privacy laws.”

A report from Jackson County Attorney Jeffrey Chalfant agreed with Indiana State Police that McLemore likely died due to prolonged inattention by Jackson County jail staff, but found that jail employees prison did not commit any crime.

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“The Indiana State Police investigation uncovered no evidence to indicate that Mr. McLemore was knowingly or intentionally killed by another person, nor any evidence that his death was caused by a knowing, intentional, or reckless act,” Chalfant wrote. . The complaint details the events leading up to McLemore’s arrest and death at Mercy West Hospital on August 10, 2021 in Cincinnati.

After his arrest, he was placed in a small, windowless, padded isolation cell lit 24 hours a day with fluorescent lights. He remained confined there, naked, alone, and in a constant state of psychosis for the next 20 days, the lawsuit alleges. The only times he was able to get out of his cell “were when the guards forcibly removed him and strapped him into restraints so they could put him under a shower and clean his cell,” court documents say.

He regularly spilled food on the floor and smashed the Styrofoam boxes and paper bags his meals were delivered in, according to court documents. A bathroom door attached to his cell was locked for most of the time he was there, according to court documents. The prosecutor’s report says the door is locked for security reasons and unlocked at the inmate’s request, but McLemore never asked for access to the bathroom or shower, the prosecutor wrote.

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The lawsuit claims that he urinated and defecated on the floor, and that food and garbage were often mixed with urine or feces. The prosecutor said he frequently urinated in his cell, but noted that in reviewing jail video, he never saw him defecate in his cell. Jail staff cleaned the cell three times during his 20-day incarceration, but within hours of cleaning it, it was in disarray again, the prosecutor wrote.

When he entered jail, he weighed 197.8 pounds and appeared fit and robust. While he was inside, he ate and drank very little and lost nearly 45 pounds in less than three weeks, according to court documents. He was under constant surveillance and a real-time video feed showed his movements, but jailers “did nothing to intervene or secure necessary medical or mental health care until it was too late,” the complaint alleges.

When he was finally sent to the hospital, his condition was so serious that the hospital did not have the resources to treat him, according to court documents. He was airlifted to a larger hospital his condition was so serious that the hospital did not have the resources to treat him, according to court documents. He was airlifted to a larger hospital in Cincinnati, where he died two days later, according to the lawsuit.

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The autopsy listed his cause of death as “multiple organ failure due to refusal to eat or drink with altered mental status due to untreated schizophrenia.” Also listed as a significant contributing condition to his death, but not related to the terminal illness, was a history of methamphetamine withdrawal, the prosecutor said. The manner of death was classified as natural.

The complaint documented McLemore’s life, from the time he was raised by a single mother in Mississippi to his hobbies of reading, playing chess and video games, and watching sports. His mother, a former member of the US Navy, died unexpectedly about 16 months after her son’s death, according to court documents.

The complaint says he began having mental health and drug use problems in high school. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been to a mental institution four times in Mississippi. “Over the years, he received inpatient psychiatric treatment on several occasions and experienced periods of relative stability that allowed him to work and enjoy life,” the court documents say. “But unfortunately, the mental illness and drug problems came back.”

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In a statement, Lita Ladner, his aunt, said the loss was painful. “Josh was my sister’s only child. The loss of him devastated her,” she said. “He was also my only nephew and a devoted friend to many. Although he struggled with mental health issues, we love him with all our hearts.”Read More…….

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